Between 8 September and 3 November 2002, the Biennale di Venezia will host NEXT: the future of world architecture. NEXT will summarise the developments of architecture over the forthcoming few years, showing us what will be built and how it will be built. Far from the fantasy and virtual representations that have drawn architecture closer to the world of art installations, this year the Architecture Biennale will examine above all the quality of the forms and of the materials of the architecture constructed. Architects of the whole world explore new roads, striving to blend the discovery of new materials with that of new construction techniques to provide their buildings with new tactile and visual qualities. Many of these experiments will be present in the exhibition, from work using aluminium and reinforced concrete glass by Japanese architect, Toyo Ito, to the elegant coating materials used by Herzog and de Meuron via digital design. The NEXT international exhibition will be held in the large spaces of the Arsenale (Corderie and Artiglierie) in a fascinating itinerary in which it will be possible to interweave the past of the location and the future of the new constructions, represented by large and small models and by photographs. Over 130 projects will be presented for the first time, divided into sections, each of which dedicated to a particular form of construction of architectural theme: Housing, Museums, transport (Communications), Education, skyscrapers (Towers), the workplace (Work), shops (Shopping), free time (Performance), public and religious sites (Church/State), town plans (Masterplans). An architecture exhibition dedicated to projects, produced both by already established architects and by young, emerging talent, and in both cases selected for the quality of their work Tom Kovac, the internationally recognised and acclaimed architect and lecturer at RMIT University, will exhibit in three areas of this year's prestigious international architecture exhibition - The Venice Biennale. The Venice Biennale will be held at the historical site of the Giardini di Castello and the Arsenale area, Venice, Italy, from 8 September to 3 November. Kovac's innovative works, to be displayed in an international arena of excellence in architecture and design, have been developed at the Interactive Information Institute (I-Cubed) at RMIT University using the latest advanced software systems in digital modelling, and in the Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory (SIAL), where the physical model of his Alessi prototype was manufactured using the latest technology. The exhibition, entitled 'NEXT', will present over 130 individual projects by leading international architects including Frank O Gehry and Jean Nouvel, and by other young, emerging talent all selected by the director Deyan Sudjic and an international panel of critics. NEXT will allow the unique opportunity to explore the shape of architecture around the world in the decade to come. It will be divided into sections, each dedicated to a particular form of construction or architectural theme: Housing, Museums, Transport (Communications), Education, Skyscrapers (Towers), the Workplace (Work), Shops (Shopping), Free time (Performance), Public and Religious Sites (Church/State), Town Plans (Masterplans). 1. Kovac was invited by Deyan Sudjic to exhibit, in the Education section of NEXT, his design for the proposed Digital Design Gallery, commissioned by RMIT University for the Centre of Excellence in Digital Design, a proposed collaboration between RMIT and the State Government of Victoria. The exhibit comprises both the digital modellings and physical model of the project, developed within the Interactive Information Institute (I-cubed) at RMIT University. The sub-terrain structure was designed to be a centre of excellence to showcase contemporary architecture and design and the latest in digital technology. 2. In the US Pavilion, Giardini di Castello, Kovac, the first Australian architect to have been invited to exhibit in the US Pavilion, will be exhibiting his design for the New World Trade Center. The design proposal was unveiled earlier this year at Max Protetch Gallery in Manhattan, New York, along with the designs of other influential names in international architecture including Daniel Libeskind, Michael Graves and Zaha Hadid. Explaining his work, Kovac says, 'Digital technologies are profoundly impacting on all aspects of culture, and this has a direct response on how these new tools are used, and how they are transforming urbanism, and the notion of cities themselves. 'In our work we recognise that architecture and cities are process oriented fluid environments, which are redefining our lives, and our thoughts about conception of the environment.' Created at I-Cubed using advanced software systems, Kovac and his team mapped the complex organisational and human interrelationships of the previous World Trade Center into dynamic spiralling inclining spatial interfaces, which challenges conventional geometrical definitions. Kovac explains the scheme as 'a continuing changing surface, all of which is unique in its shape and size and endless in its variation'. 'There is an interaction between complex raw data of the previous WTC complex, its thousands of victims and its re-articulation into new spatial potentials which are now opening possibilities in architecture,' he said. 'The project proposes a public response that is not monolithic but is rather permeated with public space and programs at its base. Our aim was to create a memorial to loss so that the memories being honoured are retained and kept alive long after the events of September 11 pass into history.' 3. Within the Italian Pavilion, Giardini di Castello, Kovac's design for the Alessi Tea and Coffee Piazza 2002 collection will be launched together with 19 other internationally renowned architects' designs commissioned by the Italian innovative manufacturer Alessi. Other designers and architects of the range include Jean Nouvel, Herzog de Meuron and Rem Koolhaas. The exhibition of prototypes aims to explore future design scenarios and possibilities, proposing the synergies and relationships between architecture and industrial design through experimental methods, styles and forms. The final collection will be launched in New York in April 2003. Project Team: Architect & Designer - Tom Kovac Digital Modelling - Melissa Bright, Jonathon Duckworth, Jack Hanane, David Morison, Jonathon Podborsek and Roland Snooks. Special thanks to: Professor Leon van Schaik - RMIT University; Norbert Nimmervoll - Interactive Information Institute (I-Cubed), RMIT University; Professor Mark Burry - Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory, RMIT University; Michele Azzopardi - Centre of Excellence in Digital Design, RMIT University; Nelson Ferrari - Hewlett Packard; Mark Lennox - Macquarie Textiles; Laurent Behan - Smart Interactive.